Who is the oldest golfer playing at the 2024 PGA Championship?

Tracy Phillips is the oldest golfer who will be playing at the 2024 PGA Championship in the total field of 156 players. Phillips is 61 years old and will be appearing in the first PGA Championship of his career. The 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club will begin in less than 24 hours from May 16-19.

As per the PGA Championship website, Tracy Phillips hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He went to college at Oklahoma State University.

Phillips is playing in the tournament as a member of the Corebridge Financial Team of 21 PGA Professionals. The 61-year-old is the PGA Director of Instruction at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He comes after a T8 finish in the 2024 PGA Professional Championship in Frisco, Texas.

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Phillips has participated in several Senior PGA Championships. He finished T17 in the 2022 competition and made the cut last year.

As per the PGA Championship website, some of his achievements in his golf career are as follows:

Winner, 2020 South Central PGA Section Match Play Championship
Winner, 2014 South Central PGA Senior Professional Championship
Winner, 2015 South Central PGA Senior Match Play Championship
Winner, 2013 and 2011 South Central PGA Section Championship
South Central PGA Section Player of the Year in 2011
South Central PGA Section Senior Player of the Year in 2015 and 2014
South Central PGA Section Teacher of the Year in 2013
Junior PGA Championship winner in 1980
Junior PGA Championship runner-up in 1979

Tracy Phillips will tee off with Denny McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 PGA Championship

Tracy Phillips was Golf Digest's No. 1 ranked junior golfer in 1979. He enjoyed great success in collegiate golf. His father, Buddy Phillips, worked as a head professional at the Cedar Ridge Country Club for four decades. Phillips's birth was also one of a kind, as his mother went into labour while watching his father play at Artesia Country Club in New Mexico.

After a good start at collegiate golf, The Washington Post reports that Philips suffered from a herniated disk, which robbed him of his swing. He had to give up his dream of becoming a professional. While talking to The Washington Post, he said:

"I struggled being able to find a golf course off the tee box. It was going from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, basically. And completely falling out of love with the game."

He started giving golf coaching after the incident. Phillips also worked as a caddie for three years with Kelli Kuehne on the LPGA Tour.

While talking to the Washington Post, Philips OSU teammate and PGA Tour veteran Scott Verplank said:

"At 61, he's getting the last laugh. I’m sure he’ll have a smile on his face the whole time he’s there and he should enjoy every minute. And maybe he’ll play good."

After the 2024 PGA Championship, Phillips will also play at the 2024 Senior PGA Championship scheduled for May 23-26 in Harbor Shores. On Thursday, Tracy Phillips will tee off at 12:56 pm with Denny McCarthy and Keita Nakajima.

Here are the tee timings for the first round of the 2024 PGA Championship:

Front Nine (No. 1):

7:15 a.m. — Michael Block, Luke Donald, Shaun Micheel
7:26 a.m. — Jeff Kellen, Alex Smalley, Ben Kohles
7:37 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Josh Speight, Matt Wallace
7:48 a.m. — Zac Oakley, Adam Svensson, Ryo Hisatsune
7:59 a.m. — Adam Hadwin, Martin Kaymer, Taylor Pendrith
8:10 a.m. — Byeong Hun An, Alexander Bjork, Eric Cole
8:21 a.m. — Adam Schenk, Corey Conners, Nick Dunlap
8:32 a.m. — John Daly, Lee Hodges, Robert MacIntyre
8:43 a.m. — Peter Malnati, Kurt Kitayama, Victor Perez
8:54 a.m. — Benn Polland, Zac Blair, Ryan van Valezen
9:05 a.m. — Jeremy Wells, Sami Valimaki, K.H. Lee
9:16 a.m. — Jared Jones, Taylor Moore, Patrick Rodgers
9:27 a.m. — Kyle Mendoza, Andy Ogletree, Erik van Rooyen

Midday Break (No. 1):

12:45 p.m. — David Puig, Thirston Lawrence, Matt Dobyns
12:56 p.m. — Tracy Phillips, Denny McCarthy, Keita Nakajima
1:07 p.m. — Talor Gooch, Cameron Davis, Harris English
1:18 p.m. — Jason Day, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard
1:29 p.m. — Min Woo Lee, Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel
1:40 p.m. — Gary Woodland, Tom Kim, Joaquin Niemann
1:51 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick
2:02 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
2:13 p.m. — Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Scottie Scheffler
2:24 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Camilo Villegas, Will Zalatoris
2:35 p.m. — Patrick Reed, Sam Burns, Padraig Harrington
2:46 p.m. — Brad Marek, Mark Hubbard, Maverick McNealy
2:57 p.m. — Braden Shattuck, S.H. Kim, C.T. Pan

Back Nine (No. 10):

7:20 a.m. — Doug Ghim, Tyler Collet, Adrian Meronk
7:31 a.m. — Larkin Gross, Lucas Herbert, Grayson Murray
7:42 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Stephan Jaeger, Russell Henley
7:53 a.m. — Ludvig Åberg, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas
8:04 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley
8:15 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose
8:26 a.m. — Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
8:37 a.m. — Brooks Koepka, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth
8:48 a.m. — Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton, Sahith Theegala
8:59 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau
9:10 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Takumi Kanaya, Nick Taylor
9:21 a.m. — Andy Svoboda, Ben Griffin, Dean Burmester
9:32 a.m. — Preston Cole, Tim Widing, Adrian Otaegui

Conclusion (No. 10):

12:40 p.m. — Rich Beem, Sebastian Soderberg, Kazuma Kobori
12:51 p.m. — Josh Bevell, Aaron Rai, Jordan Smith
1:02 p.m. — Andrew Putnam, Jesse Mueller, Charley Hoffman
1:13 p.m. — Si Woo Kim, Tom Hoge, Alex Noren
1:24 p.m. — Y.E. Yang, Matthieu Pavon, J.T. Poston
1:35 p.m. — Jake Knapp, Jason Dufner, Francesco Molinari
1:46 p.m. — Thomas Detry, Jimmy Walker, Rasmus Hojgaard
1:57 p.m. — Austin Eckroat, Luke List, Mackenzie Hughes
2:08 p.m. — Sungjae Im, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Beau Hossler
2:19 p.m. — Thorbjorn Olesen, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell
2:30 p.m. — John Somers, Brice Garnett, Jesper Svensson
2:41 p.m. — Emiliano Grillo, Evan Bowser, Alejandro Tosti
2:52 p.m. — Vincent Norrman, Wyatt Worthington II, Chris Gotterup